Sarasota is 'Enlisted' as backdrop of new Fox comedy

Producer and comedy writer Kevin Biegel is keeping Sarasota on the television map.

Chris Lowell, left, Geoff Stults and Parker Young play three brothers serving in the same U.S. Army unit at a fictional base near Sarasota, FL in the new comedy "Enlisted" created by former Sarasotan Kevin Biegel. PATRICK MCELHENNEY PHOTO/PROVIDED BY FOX

His series “Cougar Town,” set in the fictional town of Gulf Haven south of Sarasota, is in its fifth season. On Friday his new series, “Enlisted,” set at Fort McGee in Sea Cord — a fictional town near Sarasota — premieres on FOX.

If the name “Biegel” is familiar to Sarasotans, it may be because his mother, Alice, taught in Sarasota County schools for 31 years before retiring. Biegel is a Riverview grad, class of ‘94. His father, Pete, recently retired after many years working at Northern Trust.

But he’s also one of four Biegel children and his new show — a sometimes prankish buddy comedy about three brothers who work at the same base with a group of misfit soldiers — is really about the Biegel family.

Biegel said he’s always wanted to do a show about his relationship with his two younger brothers.

And as he did with “Cougar Town,” he set it in the area he knows best, his hometown where they all grew up.

Kevin Biegel, who grew up in Sarasota, is the creator and executive producer of the new Fox comedy series "Enlisted." He previously co-created "Cougar Town" and wrote for "Scrubs." PHOTO PROVIDED BY FOX

“I’ve always had this thing in my head because my two brothers have been my best friends since I was 5 years old. We’re very adult and all have careers, but at the drop of a hat when we’re together, we’re like teenagers again, beating up on each other and then we can switch and get really serious again.”

That’s what you see with Pete, Derrick and Randy Hill, the three soldiers at the center of “Enlisted.”

Geoff Stults plays the oldest brother Pete Hill, a stand-in for Kevin, whose ill-advised comment to a superior officer gets him sent back from a war zone to Fort McGee. Chris Lowell plays sarcastic middle brother, Derrick, based on Rob Biegel, and Parker Young plays the eager-to-please Randy, a version of Ryan Biegel.

The oldest Biegel admits his sister, Nicole, is a little jealous — but says some of her personality comes through in the show’s main female character.

“Three very handsome men playing three idiotic Biegel brothers,” Kevin Biegel joked in a telephone interview.

“My middle brother, Robbie, is a little like an Eeyore and my youngest brother, Ryan, is like a labrador retriever of a person, energetic, excited and happy and super sweet and that’s the character on the show.”

Keith David plays the base’s Command Sgt. Major Donald Cody, who served with the brothers’ father and somewhat regrets the promise he made to look out for them. Angelique Cabral plays Staff Sergeant Jill Perez, a a rival leader to Pete, who represents some of the personality traits of Biegel’s sister.

While the series is filmed in Los Angeles, Biegel said he chose Sarasota for a setting because it provides a sense of home.

“As a writer, you hope you can have a mental space that’s comfortable to write in, and that image of back home is it for me,” he said. But home also represents more to him.

From left, Ryan, Kevin and Rob Biegel grew up in Sarasota. The brothers are the inspiration for the three main characters in Kevin Biegel's new Fox comedy series "Enlisted." PHOTO PROVIDED BY ALICE BIEGEL

“The whole idea has been beat to death about how weird Florida is, but it’s true.

“Sarasota is a strange, wonderful, beautiful place. It’s a great town,” he said. “But it’s also a town that has its head up its own butt. It’s a little silly at times. But you can also go to Siesta Key Beach to watch the sunset. I like places that are pretty and weird at the same and have a slightly odd underpinning.”

Biegel caught up on some of the changes to downtown Sarasota, the talk about Bob’s Boathouse and local political developments during a holiday visit with his wife and two daughters to see his parents and his visiting brother, Ryan. Rob wasn’t able to come because “his wife is very pregnant,” Kevin Biegel said.

Mother Alice Biegel says she can see her sons, at times, in a few episodes of “Enlisted.”

“I see them goofing around in the show and they were always goofing off when they were growing up. They knew how to tease each other and how to support each other.

“When you start getting into the show, the character Geoff Stults plays is watching over his younger brothers. The other two are goofy but you can tell they look up to him.”

The brothers live within four miles of one another in the Los Angeles area and see each other often. Ryan, an actor, appears in several episodes of “Enlisted.” Rob works for a company that produces movie trailers.

There’s even a personal connection to the names of the three Army brothers. Alice Biegel recalled that Kevin once asked her what alternative names she and her husband Pete, had for their kids.

“I told him I would have named him Pete, after his father and then Derrick and Randy,” she said. “I don’t know why I picked those names, but I just checked them off and now his three characters are my second choices. All writers bring their family and their hometown to their work in some way.”

Finding humor in military life

Setting the series on a military base opened up possibilities for the brothers’ relationships, but it also challenges viewers and their attitudes.

"Enlisted" creator Kevin Biegel, left, works through a scene with actor Keith David during filming of an episode of the new Fox comedy. PATRICK MCELHENNY PHOTO/PROVIDED BY FOX

“It’s been 20-something years since we had a show set in the military because we’ve been at war, and people felt, rightly so, that we should treat the military on a different level. You’re not allowed to tell jokes. If you did those stories, you’d be perceived as making fun of people,” Biegel said.

That’s not Biegel’s intention.

His grandfather and father served in the military. But as much as he respects the work done by military personnel, he believes that with “any job in the world, no matter what the job is, there is inherent comedy and inherent drama. That’s a gift dramatically, to a writer.”

The military provides lots of drama. “That’s where good storytelling and comedy come from — death, loss, fear and things that change you for the rest of your life.”

A few early reviews of the show have compared “Enlisted” to the Bill Murray film “Stripes” but with heart.

“That’s the greatest compliment ever,” Biegel said. “It’s funny at times and emotional at times. That makes me really happy.”

The characters in “Enlisted” are assigned to Rear D, or Rear Detachment. They run the base and provide connections between deployed soldiers and their families at home, including running support groups.

That opens the series to stories of heart and humor that develop as the season progresses.

“That’s something I learned while writing on ‘Scrubs.’ It had a lot of comedy, but we mixed in a lot of serious stuff,” Biegel said.

In one upcoming episode, for example, Derrick helps a young boy reunite with his father who has been fighting in Afghanistan. In another, Randy offers comfort to a woman whose husband is overseas.

In the new Fox comedy "Enlisted," Geoff Stults, left, Chris Lowell and Parker Young play three brothers serving in the same U.S. Army unit at a base near Sarasota, FL. They represent series creator Kevin Biegel and his two younger brothers. PATRICK MCELHENNEY PHOTO/PROVIDED BY FOX

But first, Biegel has to get past concerns that the pilot episode missed the mark in terms of military precision.

“We’re saying we know we screwed up so much and apologize,” he said. “We’re trying to get better.”

Military advisers have ensured that future episodes feature the right haircuts, uniforms and other touches.

“Enlisted” was originally scheduled to premiere in November after the World Series, but was held until January. Biegel said it was a blessing.

“When you put a show on in the fall, you have all this pressure. You’re going up against 150 other shows and everyone is vying for attention and producing shows and putting them on the air at the same time,” he said. “To their credit, Fox saw cuts of the show and thought it was really good and thought it would be better to take it out of that screaming chamber of pressures.”

The delay meant that he and his writing staff, crew and actors were able to produce 12 episodes before any of them air, creating the show they wanted as they watched characters and relationships grow.

“If we fall on our faces, I can say it was 100 percent our decisions. The network was supportive, super respectful of the show we were making. We’re really happy with it.”

There have been screenings for active duty military and some veterans and the response has been overwhelming, Biegel said.

“There were well over 100 people, a lot of young guys and women in their 20s and early 30s, some just back from overseas,” he said. “They were laughing and they were moved. We had the toughest guy in the audience wiping a tear away.”

Here's a preview of "Enlisted":

The series also has launched a series of Webisodes related to "Enlisted." Here's episode 1:

Jay Handelman

Jay Handelman is the theater and television critic for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he has worked since 1984. He also is President of the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time past chairman of the association's executive committee. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4931. Follow him at @jayhandelman on Twitter. Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.

Last modified: January 8, 2014
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